Heart of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

one." The last was said with a slight smile. "Tis
my manor, ever since my father died ten years ago. Old bastard, I
was glad to see the back of him."
     
    "I see that you did not share my love for my
parents with your own."
     
    "He was a confounded tyrant. Mother was a
pussy cat. Not a damned hope of surviving the brute."
     
    "It is strange indeed, milord, that you're
willing to discuss your dislike of your father and your mother's
intimate past, yet you will not tell me who you are to Wolfe
Sinclair or what he is to me."
     
    "Ah, but then we live in a strange world, do
we not? And it is becoming stranger all the time." He smiled
faintly at her. "Drink your chocolate," he ordered.
     
    With raised eyebrows, she complied and said,
"I thank you for your hospitality, milord."
     
    "You're very welcome. Not often that I can
welcome such a beauty as yourself into my home and without the
matchmaking mamas and old tabbies coming along for the ride, as it
were."
     
    Despite his loose words, she had a feeling
that she was entirely safe with him. Why, she did not know for
certain. Although Isabeau had the feeling that she was stamped with
the mark of Wolfe's possession and that to this man, was stronger
than any attraction he might have felt for her.
     
    Whilst she did not appreciate it, if it kept
her safe from the man before her, then she was grateful. She did
not doubt that were she not stamped as such, he would have been
ripping through her petticoats and fondling her as soon as he'd
settled the salver upon the bed. Instead he had shied away from
her.
     
    Why he had done so, she didn't know, but
again, was glad of it. Wolfe's possession, she might be to this
man, but surely placing a tray upon her lap was hardly dangerous!
Was she that great a temptation?
     
    She ducked her head into the large pot of
chocolate to hide her face and the huge grin that had two dimples
cutting into the soft flesh of her cheeks.
     
    Her eyes flickered over the expensively
decorated room, the lusciously appointed antiques, the gilt
etchings and protruding plasterwork on the walls. She looked up at
him and said, "It seems that Wolfe has a generous friend indeed. I
can but hope that he is generous with me."
     
    "That is something that we all wish for, is
it not? Generosity from those who are stronger, or more powerful
than us. I'm sure that Wolfe Sinclair will not...disappoint."
     
    She frowned at his words, but watched as he
collected the tray, bowed low over it and at her, then walked
towards the door. It swung cleanly open and then shut.
     
    Isabeau's eyes narrowed as she tried to
translate the conversation into something that was more
understandable. She had the feeling that he had almost been
speaking in a code of some sort, but she knew that was ridiculous.
It had not been a code, simply the fact that he was withholding
information from her and either purposely or inadvertently, kept
slipping tidbits to her.
     
    Either way, she felt more confused than ever
and after spending the entirety of the ride towards this manor
house, in a state of befuddlement, Isabeau realized that she was
damned tired of feeling that way!
     
    Be it confused about the strange and
bewitching sensations her captor inspired in her. Or about his role
in her parents' deaths or whether he was the elusive someone she
had been running from these last four years.
     
    Isabeau wanted answers and knew she wasn't
about to receive any.
     
    She settled back into her gilded cage with a
sigh. Her shoulders were swallowed by a feather pillow and slowly
she felt herself drift off to sleep.
     
    Her mind felt heavy, filled with weight and
her limbs were somehow similarly indisposed. Every inch of her felt
drowsy and with a soft, sleepy smile, Isabeau realized that this
was how it felt to be drugged.
     
    She was far too tired and far too fatigued to
care that the food had been poisoned with some kind of sleeping
draft. The only thing that disturbed the happy haze circling